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Losing belly fat could be made easier if people de-stress, according to a neuroscientist.
Dr. Tali Sharot says the stress hormone cortisol, which affects both men and women, helps to store fat around people's abdomen as a "survival mechanism". "Stress causes belly fat that's really hard to shift," she told the Diary of a CEO podcast.
“What I would see with people is that they would say ‘Oh I've put on a bit of weight around the middle. I have to do something about it. So I've started eating less, I've started exercising more and I still can't shift it…’
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“That's when I would explain this is the impact of cortisol. As long as you're still leaking out extra cortisol nothing's going to change. Even exercising more or eating better less or differently whatever it is wouldn't shift that fat."
What's worse, Dr Tali said the hormone is contagious. “It will leak out of our sweat [a few inches] around us and go into the skin of everybody else,” she claimed.
The theory is backed up by science. A previous study by Yale university of 2,000 people found that stress did in fact lead to abdominal fat.
Cortisol can also have an effect on your diet, as it can create an uncontrollable urge to eat. Dr Tali says the best way to overcome the issues relating to stress is to "get to the root cause".
She explained that stress "trickles down from a workplace or family group, just as it would have done centuries among our hunter gatherer forebears".
Of course, reducing stress – and avoiding people who radiate stress – isn’t the only remedy for belly fat. The NHS has a whole host of tips to help lose weight, including getting "active" for 150 minutes a week.
They also suggest aiming to eat your five a day as well as swapping sugary drinks for water. Cutting down on foot that's high in sugar and fat is also recommended.
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